The Lottery and Other Stories — Shirley Jackson
This short story collection reminded me of the TV show Mad Men, if it had been directed by Alfred Hitchcock. These are scary stories where the horror doesn’t come from anything supernatural, but from the mundane. In most cases, the protagonists are women living under the constant pressure to meet the social expectations of the time, even to their own detriment. Women who fall apart due to the incessant psychological violence of the real world.
These stories were published in the late 1940s. A time in which gender roles were even more prevalent than today and the options women had were limited. Even Shirley Jackson herself, who became the main breadwinner of her family, had to take care of the house and children on top of that, while her husband could focus on writing and teaching. She only had the time to write when their kids were away at school.
Another main element in these stories is the inherent brutality of living in a society. The need to flaunt, the hypocrisy, the false courtesies, the exaggerated hospitality, are all byproducts of arbitrary social norms. The author is able to convey the passive-aggressive violence present in ordinary interactions. She masters the art of writing uncomfortable conversations and situations, such as the feeling of superiority disguised as charity in “After you, my dear Alphonse” and “Come dance with me in Ireland”, or the envy disguised as a compliment in “Afternoon in Linen” and “Seven types of ambiguity.” Stories that are subtle, but twist you on the inside.
The lottery is undoubtedly her most famous story. A tale with a rather harmless beginning. It is about a small town preparing to host an annual lottery, however, the occasion acquires a more sinister tone as the story goes on. The suspense is sustained until the end and the final scene is unforgettable. When it was first published in 1948 in The New Yorker, the magazine received an “avalanche of letters” in protest and many cancelled their subscriptions. She also wrote several novels that became modern horror classics such as “We have always lived in the castle” and “The haunting of Hill House”.
Shirley Jackson doesn’t seem to have had a very happy life. She was born in 1916 to a wealthy family from San Francisco, but had a terrible relationship with her mother. She hoped Shirley would be a socialite just like her, while the young girl preferred to stay home and read instead of attending parties. She married a man who cheated on her constantly and controlled her money. She suffered depression and anxiety to the point where she couldn’t leave the house. Writing was always her refuge. On one occasion she said, “I think all my books laid end to end would be one long documentation of anxiety.”
She had a keen sense of observation, but also experienced rejection in the flesh. This exceptional collection is full of stories that are uncomfortable and disquieting, perhaps because they sound familiar even decades later. Because they show our most petty nature. How ruthless and perverse we can be, even when we pretend otherwise.
This review was originally published in Spanish at Cuaderno Reciclado.
